(1) The Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, establishes a system of childcare and development services for children up to 13 years of age. Existing law requires the department to contract with local contracting agencies for alternative payment programs for childcare services to be provided throughout the state. Existing law requires the alternative payment program to reimburse childcare providers based upon specified criteria, including the actual days and hours of attendance for those families with variable schedules. This bill would instead require the alternative payment program to reimburse childcare providers based upon the maximum certified hours of need, as documented. (2) The act requires an alternative payment program to verify childcare provider rates no less frequently than once a year. The act requires the department to develop regulations for addressing discrepancies in the childcare provider rate levels identified through the rate verification process described above. This bill would delete these provisions. (3) The act authorizes a contractor to retain a reserve fund balance for alternative payment model and certificate childcare contracts, as provided. The act prohibits these funds from exceeding either 2% of the sum of the parts of each contract, as provided, or $1,000, whichever is greater. This bill would instead prohibit the funds from exceeding either 15% of the sum of the parts of each contract, as provided, or $1,000, whichever is greater. (4) Existing law, the Early Education Act, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to, among other things, provide an inclusive and cost-effective preschool program. The Early Education Act and the Child Care and Development Services Act authorize alternative payment programs and providers operating or providing services under the acts to use digital signatures that comply with state and federal standards and authorize the use of digital forms to allow families to apply for services. This bill would instead authorize the use of electronic signatures and forms.
Sponsored bills
(1) Existing law establishes the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement awards, the California Community College Transfer Entitlement awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards, the Cal Grant C awards, and the Cal Grant T awards under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes eligibility requirements for these awards for participating students attending qualifying institutions. This bill would enact the Cal Grant Reform Act, which would revise and recast the provisions establishing and governing the existing Cal Grant Program into a new Cal Grant Program. The bill would specify that the Cal Grant Reform Act would only become operative upon the appropriation by the Legislature, in the annual Budget Act or another statute, of sufficient funds to fully implement its provisions. The bill would authorize the commission to adopt emergency regulations to implement the Cal Grant Reform Act. The new Cal Grant Program would also include a Cal Grant 2 Program and a Cal Grant 4 Program, with eligibility requirements as specified. The provisions rendering several existing provisions of the Cal Grant Program inoperative would take effect on July 1, 2024, or on a date determined in the annual Budget Act, whichever date is later. The Cal Grant Reform Act would become operative for students to apply for aid beginning October 1, 2023, and to receive aid for the 2024–25 academic year. The bill would require the Trustees of the California State University, and request the Regents of the University of California, to adopt a statement of policy on or before June 30, 2023, on how their institutional aid programs address student basic needs and how these institutional funds are prioritized for disbursement. The bill would require the University of California, the California State University, private nonprofit and for-profit institutions of higher education, and community college districts whose students receive Cal Grant aid to report specified data to the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst's Office, and the higher education policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature for each academic year, starting with the 2021–22 academic year, by March 31 of the subsequent academic year. To the extent that this provision would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program. (2) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 66025.9 of the Education Code proposed by SB 512 to be operative only if this bill and SB 512 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (3) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 76300 of the Education Code proposed by AB 1113 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1113 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law, the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, provides the authority and procedures for the initiation, conduct, and completion of changes of organization and reorganization of cities and districts by local agency formation commissions. This bill would create the Pajaro Valley Health Care District, as specified, except that the bill would authorize the Pajaro Valley Health Care District to be organized, incorporated, and managed, only if the relevant county board of supervisors chooses to appoint an initial board of directors. The bill would require, within 5 years of the date of the first meeting of the Board of Directors of the Pajaro Valley Health Care District, the board of directors to divide the district into zones and number the zones consecutively. The bill would require that, after formation, the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 govern any organizational changes for the Pajaro Valley Health Care District. The bill would require the district to notify the County of Santa Cruz local agency formation commission (LAFCO) when the district, or any other entity, acquires the Watsonville Community Hospital. The bill would require the LAFCO to order the dissolution of the district if the hospital has not been acquired by January 1, 2024. The bill would require the district to notify the LAFCO if the district sells the Watsonville Community Hospital to another entity or stops providing health care services at the facility, and would require the LAFCO to dissolve the district under those circumstances, as specified. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the creation of the Pajaro Valley Health Care District within the Counties of Santa Cruz and Monterey. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency to develop, and update every 3 years, the state's climate adaptation strategy and coordinate with other state agencies to identify a lead agency or group of agencies to lead adaptation efforts in specified sectors. Existing law also establishes the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program, to be administered by the Office of Planning and Research, to coordinate regional and local efforts with state climate adaptation strategies to adapt to the impacts of climate change in order to facilitate the development of holistic, complimentary strategies for adapting to climate change impacts. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation that would require climate change adaptation regulations to take into account workforce development retraining needs and plans to meet those needs.
The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal law, generally imposes a tax on the income of residents in the state, as specified, and allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. The Personal Income Tax Law also imposes an annual tax on every limited partnership, limited liability partnership, and limited liability company doing business in this state, as specified, in an amount equal to the minimum franchise tax. The Corporation Tax Law imposes an annual tax on "S" corporations at a rate of 1.5% of its net income, or if greater, the minimum franchise tax, as specified. Existing law requires any bill introduced on or after January 1, 2020, authorizing certain tax expenditures, as defined, to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2026, would authorize a partnership or "S" corporation that meets certain other requirements to elect to pay an elective tax at a rate based on its net income, as specified, for the taxable year. The bill would authorize the Franchise Tax Board to adopt regulations to implement the elective tax and exempt those regulations from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2026, would allow a credit against the personal income tax to a taxpayer, other than a partnership, that is a partner, shareholder, or member of an entity that elects to pay the elective tax authorized by the bill, in an amount equal to a specified percentage of the partner's, shareholder's, or member's pro rata share or distributive share, as applicable, of income subject to the elective tax paid by the entity. The bill would also provide findings to comply with the additional information requirement for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure.
Existing law, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , an initiative measure, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. AUMA authorizes legislative amendment of its provisions with a 23 vote of both houses, without submission to the voters, to further its purposes and intent. Existing law, the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) , among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities. MAUCRSA generally divides responsibility for the state licensure and regulation of commercial cannabis activity among the Bureau of Cannabis Control in the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the State Department of Public Health. MAUCRSA, for purposes of the California Cannabis Equity Act, defines local equity program as a program adopted or operated by a local jurisdiction that focuses on inclusion and support of individuals and communities in California's cannabis industry who are linked to populations or neighborhoods that were negatively or disproportionately impacted by cannabis criminalization, as specified. MAUCRSA requires the bureau to administer a grant program to assist a local jurisdiction with the development of a local equity program or to assist local equity applicants and local equity licensees through a local equity program, as specified. MAUCRSA, until January 1, 2022, authorizes a licensing authority, in its sole discretion, to issue a provisional license if the applicant has submitted a completed license application to the licensing authority, including evidence that compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) or local cannabis ordinances is underway, if applicable, as specified. This bill would prohibit a licensing authority from issuing a new provisional license to an applicant on or after July 1, 2022, unless the applicant is a qualified equity applicant, as defined by the California Cannabis Equity Act, and would authorize a licensing authority to reinstate a provisional license issued prior to July 1, 2022, to an applicant for the same activity previously licensed at the location. The bill would extend the repeal date of these provisional license provisions to July 1, 2028. By extending provisional licensure, the applications for which are required to be signed under penalty of perjury, the bill would expand the scope of the crime of perjury, and would thereby impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of AUMA.
Existing law authorizes the service of documents in a civil action by electronic means pursuant to rules adopted by the Judicial Council. Existing law authorizes a court to electronically serve any document issued by the court that is not required to be personally served on a party that has agreed or consented to accept electronic service, with the same legal effect as service by mail, except as specified. This bill would, on and after July 1, 2023, instead require the court to electronically serve those documents on a party that has agreed or consented to accept electronic service.
The California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. That act requires the establishment of a local workforce development board in each local workforce development area of the state to assist the local chief elected official in planning, oversight, and evaluation of local workforce investment. The act requires local boards to carry out specific tasks consistent with the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, including, with representatives of secondary and postsecondary education programs, to lead efforts in the local area to develop and implement career pathways within the local area by aligning the employment, training, education, and supportive services that are needed by adults and youth, particularly individuals with barriers to employment. The act also provides for training partnerships that are overseen by the board, including the High Road Training Partnerships initiative, a demonstration project to model partnership strategies for the state among various industry sectors, and that is industry based and worker focused in order to build skills for California employers that, among other things, pay family-supporting wages to their employees. This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would require the California Workforce Development Board to establish and administer the Lifting Families Out of Poverty Supportive Services Program. The bill would require the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose, to make $50,000,000 in grants available to applicants, including local workforce development boards, labor organizations, K–12 educational entities, community colleges, adult schools, county social service agencies, community-based organizations, business-related nonprofit organizations, and workforce intermediaries who work directly with the individuals experiencing employment barriers to ensure those individuals receive needed training, that apply for funding to provide supportive services, as defined, and are approved in accordance with the bill. The bill would require the California Workforce Development Board to develop criteria, policies, and guidelines for the award of supportive service grant funds consistent with the bill. The bill would require that those criteria, policies, and guidelines consider, but not be limited to, the ability of applicants to leverage additional funds in support of the program, priority for grant applicants that are or that partner with High Road Training Partnerships, and tracking of participants into the labor market to measure program efficacy.
Existing law establishes the California Farmland Conservancy Program Act, to be administered generally by the Department of Conservation, and provides that it is the intent of the act to, among other things, encourage voluntary, long-term private stewardship of agricultural lands by offering landowners financial incentives, encourage local land use planning for orderly and efficient urban growth and conservation of agricultural land, and encourage improvements to enhance long-term sustainable agricultural uses. The act establishes the California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund and requires, except as provided, moneys in the fund, upon appropriation, to be used for the purposes of the California Farmland Conservancy Program, which include, among other things, the purchase of agricultural conservation easements, fee title acquisition grants, and land improvement and planning grants. This bill would establish the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program as a separate component of the California Farmland Conservancy Program. The bill would authorize the Director of Conservation to, subject to appropriation, enter into contracts for an initial term of 3 years with nonpublic entities that are owners of record or lessees of productive rangelands, grazing lands, or grasslands that are determined by the director to be important for the conservation of grassland birds, soil health, and biodiversity. The bill would require these contracts to include an agreement by the owner and any lessee to restore, enhance, and protect the grassland habitat character of the land subject to the contract and to require the Department of Conservation to pay a specified amount to the owner or lessee for undertaking conservation obligations under the contract. The bill would create the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program Account in the California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund and would make funds deposited in the account available for expenditure, upon appropriation, to the department for purposes of the program. The bill would authorize the department to use up to 30% of the funds to provide grants to nonprofit organizations, regional conservancies, or resource conservation districts for specified purposes relating to the program, including assisting owners or lessees with enrollment or implementation of the program or preparation of management plans, as specified.
Existing law, until January 1, 2026, authorizes a development proponent to submit an application for a multifamily housing development containing 2 or more residential units, which satisfies specified objective planning standards, that is subject to a streamlined, ministerial approval process, as provided, and not subject to a conditional use permit. Existing law requires a local government to notify the development proponent in writing if the local government determines that the development conflicts with any of those objective standards by a specified time; otherwise, the development is deemed to comply with those standards. Existing law generally requires that not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages, as specified, be paid to workers employed on a public work project that exceeds $1,000. Existing law establishes requirements that apply when a public entity is required by statute or regulation to obtain an enforceable commitment that a bidder, contractor, or other entity will use a skilled and trained workforce to complete a contract or project. Existing law also authorizes a public entity to require that a bidder, contractor, or other entity use a skilled and trained workforce to complete a contract or project. This bill would authorize a development proponent to submit an application for a development for the complete conversion, as defined, of a structure with a certificate of occupancy as a motel or hotel into multifamily housing units to be subject to a streamlined, ministerial approval process, provided that development proponent reserves 10% of the proposed housing units for lower income households, unless a local government has affordability requirements that exceed these requirements. The bill would require the structure proposed to be converted be vacant for at least 6 months prior to the submission of the application, except as provided. The bill would require the development proponent to comply with specified requirements regarding the payment of prevailing rate or per diem wages for construction work related to the part of the development that is a public work and the use of a skilled and trained workforce on the development, except as provided. The bill would require a local government to notify the development proponent in writing if the local government determines that the development conflicts with any of these objective standards within 30 days of submitting a complete application; otherwise, the development would be deemed to comply with those standards. This bill would restrict a local government's authority to impose automobile parking standards for a development subject to these provisions and would prohibit imposition of parking standards for a project that is located within specified areas. The bill would prohibit a local government from imposing any standard requiring a minimum or maximum unit size. The bill would prohibit a local government from imposing any density restriction on a development subject to these provisions, except that the total number of housing units created by the conversion shall not exceed the total number of units offered by the hotel or motel. By imposing new duties upon local agencies with respect to the streamlined approval process described above, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA does not apply to the approval of ministerial projects. The approval process established by this bill would be ministerial in nature, thereby exempting the approval of development projects subject to that approval process from CEQA. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.